Previous research on evolution in repeated games presumes that individuals engage in what we have termed “selfish learning.” Selfish learners evaluate the performance of their strategies by the immediate payoffs they yield. Herein, we argue that selfish learning may be replaced by alternative learning rules if selection operates on a learning rule's long-run performance. The selection pressure for an alternative learning rule may be particularly strong in games with multiple equilibria. In such games, selfish learning can lead individuals to settle at inefficient outcomes although more profitable equilibria are available. Such inefficiencies can occur in the repeated prisoner's dilemma [1]} but also in any other social dilemma that requires coordination [2]}, [3]}, [4]}, [5]}.
